


The Antivan Tango

by vulpineRaconteur



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 04:49:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6224632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulpineRaconteur/pseuds/vulpineRaconteur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josephine Montilyet is good at a lot of things that Sera couldn't give two farts about.  Other things Sera is eager to learn.</p><p>My fill for Wintersend 2016!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Antivan Tango

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AuditoryCheesecake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuditoryCheesecake/gifts).



Sera had loads of respect for Josephine and her methods, to be sure. It'd taken her a while to warm up to it all, the butt kissing and the playing nice ( _so not_ Sera's style), but she got it now. It was just another way to control the rich nobs of the world. A more effective one too, Sera had to admit, but way less fun. That was the problem with Josie, Sera thought. She didn’t know how to have fun. 

Which was so _weird,_ because every other Antivan Sera had ever met knew fun better than anything. Clothes on or off, no one knew how to have a good time like an Antivan. Sera wondered if that made it hard for Josie to work her ways on them. Wondered if some Antivan had ever popped their top off for her and she had just offered them a coat. “Oh goodness gracious! My lady, you will surely freeze in the mountain air! I _could_ get you a blanket…perhaps if you sent us some more gold?” Sera snickered. 

“And what, pray tell, is so amusing, Sera?” Josephine asked, voice tense. 

It was one month until Halamshiral, and everybody everywhere was getting ready for it. Tailors and hairdressers moved in and out of Skyhold at all hours, ravens never stayed in the rookery for long without getting a new message to carry, and if Sera's reports from other Jennies were accurate, servants were being overworked all across Orlais. There would be a lot of scores to settle at the ball. She was looking forward it. 

But first, this. Dancing lessons with Snotty, Stabby and Stuffy (that is, Vivienne, Leliana and Josephine). _Some people_ were exempt—Varric and Solas were good enough already ( _apparently_ ), no one was really arsed with whether or not Cole could dance, and the Inquisitor was getting private lessons from Dorian. So Sera had been coerced into coming down into the dank rooms under Skyhold to spend an afternoon stepping on toes (Blackwall’s), almost getting dropped (by Cassandra) and staring at waaaaaaay too many man tits (just two; both Iron Bull’s). 

Her mind had wandered while Josephine supervised some awful four-person dance Sera couldn’t even be bothered to learn the name of, and then interrupted with her snickering. Even the band (brought in by Josephine from Rialto _just for this_ ) had stopped playing to look at her. She felt her ear tips go red. 

“Amusing?” she asked. She drooped from her perch against the wall and spoke through a heavy sigh. “Josie, _nothing_ is amusing, this is all so awful and _boring_.” 

Josephine made an affronted noise at the back of her throat. “Orlesian dance is far from boring, Sera. Why, the history of the steps alone, never mind the subtle communications that an expert dancer has at their disposal—” 

Sera took a deep breath and let out a long raspberry. “That’s what I just heard, _Ambassador_. Should I repeat myself?” She started to breathe in again. 

“No! Thank you, Sera!” Josephine whipped toward her, clipboard tight in her grip. It had been a long, sweaty day, and the basement room was poorly ventilated. They were all a little on edge. “And I must say I do not appreciate this attitude when we are taking time out of our _very_ busy schedules to teach you something useful.” 

“ _Useful?_ This? This is _stupid_.” She kicked at the floor. “Dancing is supposed to be _fun_ , Josie. Unless…? Aw, do you now know any fun dances?” She wrinkled her nose. “Is that the problem?” 

Josephine was breathing hard through her nose. She stared at Sera, who maintained her expression of comic pity. “Fun is what you want, then? We’ll see about fun. Arielle?” 

The leader of the band said “Sí, Embajadora?” Josephine said something to her in Antivan, and she responded with visible excitement. Josephine turned back around, giving Sera one lingering look, before smiling at Leliana. 

“Would you, my friend?” 

Leliana smirked and stepped forward. “Gladly, Josie.” 

Josephine primly laid her clipboard down against the wall, then approached Leliana. “You can lead?” She nodded. “Excellent.” Josephine looked to Sera, and for a second Sera forgot to breathe because Josephine had on a face she probably used to intimidate people in negotiations: intensity and confidence and something that wasn’t a threat, but wasn’t _not_ a threat either. “This, Sera, is the Antivan Tango.” 

Sera guffawed. “What, in front of everyone? If it’s anything like what I’ve heard, one of you should be upside down.” 

Josephine stomped one foot. “Ugh, not _that!_ ” 

“Trust me, Sera,” Leliana said, laugh in her voice. “You’ll like this one, too.” 

The music started, and for once Sera was at a loss for words. Josephine began by sliding one foot forward, letting herself drop low to the ground, Leliana’s taut arm holding them close, chests touching, thighs touching, everything in between… _touching_. Then Josephine sprung herself standing, spinning away from her partner, but never dropping her hand. Leliana pulled her back and…hoo. Sera’s mouth had gone dry. 

The dance continued, slow, but so...forceful. Leliana and Josephine moved around the room with precision, with control and intent, and so much, fucking, _heat_. Sera couldn’t tear her eyes away from Josephine’s hand drawing down Leliana’s arm, Josephine’s leg extended behind her, then curled and tucked around Leliana’s torso, Josephine with that negotiation look on her face as Leliana cradled her in her arms, Josephine’s hair dislodged from its bun, Josephine’s, Josephine. 

When the music ended, Josephine had one toe pointed into the air, and she was breathing hard. Then she laughed, shattering the spell, and Leliana laughed too as she set her down. Josephine sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear as everyone in the room clapped and somebody (Iron Bull) whistled. “Oh, please,” Josephine said, dropping her gaze. “You are too kind.” She looked back up at Sera through her eyelashes, with challenge, and triumph, and…what else? Sera couldn’t say. But it was interesting. 

Vivienne declared the lesson over for the day, and everyone trudged up the stairs into the castle, except Josephine, who stayed behind speaking to the band, and Sera. She lurked at the edges of the room, biting her lip and weighing her options. The band had almost finished packing up when she said “Hang on. Erm, Josie?” 

Josephine looked at her with her standard bright smile. “Yes, Sera? Is there something you need?” 

“Right, well, first off,” she said, pinching her fingers together and looking at the floor. “First off, sorry for, you know, being a tit or whatever.” 

Josephine’s lips twitched into a realer smile, wider, sharper, showing a little more of her gums. “Apology accepted. It has been a long day. We all got a little hot under the collar. Secondly?” 

“Secondly, before they leave,” Sera said, gesturing at the band, “could you, maybe, teach me that dance?” Her face felt hot and she hated it but she knew she was blushing. 

“Truly? I’m surprised you are interested. The tango is very precise and controlled. When you don’t lead, you are placing a lot of trust in your partner. You are usually so…” Josephine scrunched her face, searching for the most diplomatic word. “…Freeform. It might be challenging for you.” 

“Look, I said I wanted to, didn’t I?! So just—” She thrust one hand out to Josephine. “Just teach me, alright?” 

“Certainly, Sera.” She spoke to the band, and the guitarist and accordionist took their instruments back out while the rest continued to pack up. Josephine took Sera’s hand and drew her close. Sera could feel her heart pounding in her throat. 

“It starts similar to some of the other dances we learned today. Do you recall?” 

“Errrrrr…” 

“...Right. You put your right hand on my shoulder, like this, I put my left here on your back. Now when we start, I will step forward and you will step back—like that, yes, now as we turn, follow where I push, you see? Step with confidence, sway your hips, it’s all part of it. No, _sway_ , gently…” 

It went on like that for twenty minutes, Josephine instructing and guiding every motion, then Sera made a frustrated sound. “This isn’t anything like what you did with Leliana! Where’s all the, you know…” She was at a loss as to how to end that sentence without a vulgar hand gesture. For once, she felt that a vulgar hand gesture wouldn’t be the right thing to do. 

“Leliana and I have been dancing for years, and are both familiar with the tango,” Josephine said. “Once you have a hang of the basics, you can develop a routine—” 

“ _Routine?!_ ” 

“Well, a certain measure of improvisation is required, but you still need more experience to get to that point. Shall we start again?” 

Sera cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders. “Let’s do it, Josie.” 

The musicians started again. Josephine pushed Sera into the one two hips hips, five six hips hips, but before she could step into another one two, Sera improvised. She pulled Josephine into a turn, twisted her hips, leaned back into a dip with Josephine scrambling to support her. She lifted herself upright and winked at Josephine. A challenge. Josephine smirked, and pushed her into a spin. 

They went on like this, Josephine wordlessly telling Sera what to do, Sera mostly doing whatever she wanted instead, leaving Josephine to compensate, to hold tightly and guide, but loosely to allow. A pattern developed, Sera finding her fun and Josephine learning it in time to lead into it. 

As the song reached its peak, Sera slid one leg forward, pulling Josephine down and close, until their chests, their thighs, and oh ho ho the _in-between_ , were _so_ almost touching. 

The music ended, and for a moment, they didn’t part. Then Josephine pulled Sera standing again and stepped back. She coughed lightly into one hand, looking at the floor, as the musicians clapped and whooped. As they finished packing, Josephine said quietly “Very good, Sera, for a first lesson. Let me know if you are interested in a…follow-up. We can schedule a second lesson at any time.” 

“Sure,” Sera said, the usual quirk back in her voice. She stepped closer, and almost jumped for joy when she heard Josephine’s breath hitch. “Who knows how I’ll improvise when it’s just the two of us?” She turned on her heel and stepped toward the door, swaying her hips as she went. 

She stopped and turned back to Josephine. “I meant getting naked. Did you get that?” 

Josephine sighed.


End file.
